African American DNA Research Forum

I agree with Sherry. This is really interesting stuff. Unfortunately, I do not have lot of documented history to go with the limited oral history, I have, but with time I am finding out more. DNA Tribes has really helped me to look in places I would have never even considered. I just recently found an ancester from Spain, but had I not known that this was a possibility, I would have passed this person over in the census data. When I took a closer look he appears to be, in fact, my maternal great-great grandfather. I also saw things in my DNA Tribes that I hadn't mentioned to anyone, and my aunt on my father's side just confirmed another population on my results list. So, it's not a matter of me saying to people, these were my results, it's more like people, my aunt in this instance, say, " well, I'd always been told our great grandfather was...". And sure enough, that "..." was on my dna Tribes results.

It is true, though, that the results of these companies really are only as good as their populations - so with time the results will get better. Also, remember that many of the results you get may be extremely ancient, an accumulation of all of your ancesters even ones you never even thought possible. The one additonal thing I liked about DNA Tribes is their helpfulness, I was completely confused in the beginning with tons of questions, but in every case they were happy to acknowledge my concerns and came back with lengthy and clear explanations. So ask questions, lots of them if you have them, and I'm sure they'll be just as willing to help you. OK, that's just my two cents worth.